


Pub Night, Unexpected

by hedwig4evr



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Angst and then Tooth Rotting Fluff, Discussion of hilariously named alcoholic drinks, Getting Together, Harry Potter to the Rescue, Jealousy turned anger, M/M, Morning After, previous domestic abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-14 23:15:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28803408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hedwig4evr/pseuds/hedwig4evr
Summary: Pub night with friends takes a not-so-great turn.  The next morning makes up for it, though.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Previous Draco Malfoy/Theo Nott
Comments: 1
Kudos: 115





	Pub Night, Unexpected

Harry slid into the booth at the back of the Leaky Cauldron, scooting over to sit next to Seamus, who had his arm around Dean and was whispering in his ear.

Harry leaned on the table to see who was sitting on the other side of Dean, and saw that it was Ginny, who was leaning into Luna’s chest, talking across the table to Hermione and Pansy, who were engaged in a heated debate on something he was sure he didn’t want to know about.

Blaise and Ron walked back up to the table carrying trays of drinks and chips between them. They placed them in the middle of the table, and there was a flurry of hands grabbing their orders and hollering for someone to pass the vinegar.

Harry waited until everyone had settled back against their seats, and started talking amongst themselves again before he reached for the glass of firewhiskey Ron had gotten him. He swiped a couple of chips out of Seamus’ basket, and idly flicked his eyes toward the door.

“He’s running late.”

Harry’s eyes slid to Blaise, who was smirking at him.

“Who? Neville?”

Blaise just rolled his eyes as he said, “No, the future Mr Harry Potter.”

Harry could feel himself flush as he said, “I’m sure I don’t know what you mean.”

“I’m sure you don’t. He’ll be here in a few, none the less.”

Harry internally rolled his eyes. Was he that obvious? Wait—of course he was. Anymore, he ignored all of his friends, sitting glumly and avoiding conversation, until a certain blond walked in. Then, he was animated, conversing with everyone, and having a grand time.

But, not until…

He took a swig of his drink, letting it slowly flow down until it warmed his stomach.

“Where is Nev, though?”

It was Ron’s turn to smirk as he said, “On a date with one Hannah Abbott.”

“Oh, really?” Harry asked, leaning on the table. “How did that happen?”

“Not sure, but both were a bumbling mess before they left, so we’ll see.”

Harry tried to focus on the conversations around him as they continued to rib on Neville and Hannah, but his eyes kept flicking to the door at every slight movement. He laughed along with Blaise when Ron belched loudly. He smiled when he caught Hermione’s eyes, too. But, he was beginning to get antsy.

They had been flirting back and forth for months—years, really. They bickered and poked fun at each other, and their relationship was steadily moving onward. Draco was definitely one of his best friends, but Harry still wanted more.

They had kissed on New Year’s, as all of their other friends were paired off and it just seemed the logical thing to do. It had started out as just a chaste peck on the lips. They both pulled back almost instantly, and just stared at each other. It took several moments, but then Harry had gathered his Gryffindor courage, and slid his hand into the hair on the back of Draco’s neck. Gently, he pulled Draco towards him, and again their lips met.

It started off slow, but then Draco’s tongue swiped against Harry’s bottom lip, causing him to gasp. He took advantage of that and deepened the kiss. Harry honestly didn’t know how long they stood there snogging in the middle of his living room, with all of their friends surrounding them; he just knew that he wanted to be able to do that for the rest of time.

That had been nearly three months ago. They had found themselves in the loo of the Leaky for a snog at nearly every pub night since, and then a few weeks ago, Draco had slid to his knees. Tonight, Harry was hoping, that… Well, Harry was hoping they would end the night together, at Grimmauld.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the door move. He immediately turned to stare back towards the door, and his heart leapt to his throat when the most gorgeous person on the planet walked in the door… followed by someone he hoped to never, ever see again. His heart plummeted to the floor.

“What the fuck?” he whispered. Or, so he thought. Apparently, though, he was loud enough for half the table to hear him, because they all turned around and saw who was walking towards them, elbowing anyone that hadn’t heard. Harry felt like falling into a hole.

Blaise whipped back around and gave Harry a look that he recognised as a mixture of pity and anger.

Draco walked up to the table, his shadow right behind him, and gave a small wave to the table. “Evening, everyone. I’m sure you all remember Theo,” he said. Theo Nott nodded his head at the table.

There were mumbled greetings around the table, and a few glances between Nott, Draco, and Harry.

Draco reached out for a spare chair, before sliding into the booth next to Harry, and asking Nott to go get them drinks.

As soon as he was out of earshot, Blaise leaned across the table and spat at Draco, “What the fuck are you doing here with him?”

Draco scowled. “I ran into him outside the ministry, and he kind of just followed me. I tried to lose him, but he’s persistent, as you know. I didn’t know what else to do.”

He turned to Harry, giving him a pleading look and gently placing a hand on his thigh. Harry couldn’t hold his eyes, though. He glanced back down at the table, twisting so that he crossed his legs, making Draco’s hand slide back into his own lap.

“Harry, please,” he whispered. “I didn’t know how to get rid of him. I’m sorry. I—”

“You really don’t need to explain anything to me.” He picked up his glass and finished it in one large swig. He was definitely going to be getting drunk tonight.

~*~*~

Draco and Theo had dated for nearly three years. They had gotten together during their 8th year; had moved in together upon graduating. It seemed that everything was fine; Draco had a great job at the ministry, while Nott worked at a shop in Diagon. They hung out with their friends at the Leaky on Friday’s, soon joined by the Gryffindors when Pansy and Hermione had become best friends.

Harry and Draco had called a truce and had started to become friends during that time, as well. And it was because they were friends that Harry knew something wasn’t entirely right with the relationship between Draco and Nott.

He had literally run into Draco coming out of Gringott’s one day right before Christmas. After picking up their dropped bags and packages that had fallen on the ground, Harry had suggested that they go grab a pint. Draco had hesitated, but after some cajoling, he agreed.

They had had one of the best conversations that Harry had ever had. They talked about anything and everything. It wasn’t until Tom came over that they realised they had been talking for nearly three hours. Draco had immediately stiffened and with a speedy goodbye, had immediately disapparated.

Harry had again seen him the next day, in the ministry atrium. Draco hadn’t heard him call his name, so Harry jogged up behind him and clapped him on the shoulder. Harry was startled when Draco nearly crumpled to the ground. He questioned him, knowing something was off, and when he wouldn’t relent, Draco dragged him into the gents and showed him a large purple bruise across his back and shoulder.

Harry had questioned him more, to which Draco said he had fallen down the stairs, and that it was not a big deal. But, Harry being Harry, knew that something just wasn’t right.

It didn’t take long after that for Harry to learn what was really going on, and it was just a short time after that, that Harry and their friends convinced Draco to leave Nott; that he didn’t deserve to be treated that way. Draco moved in with Blaise, and they thought they all were through with Nott. Until tonight.

~*~*~

Blaise gave him another fuming look, clearing his gaze as the other man came back to the table with drinks for himself and Draco. Harry noticed that he had gotten Draco a glass of Chardonnay, which Harry knew Draco no longer drank; after having a very bad night of getting far too drunk, and proceeding to projectile vomit across his bedroom, Draco gave up wine.

As Nott sat the drinks down, Harry saw Draco nod his head in thanks, and then pretend to take a sip. He glanced over and noticed how stiff Draco’s shoulders were, and he realised that maybe this really wasn’t how Draco had envisioned the evening going, either. He watched for several long minutes as Draco talked with Ron and Blaise, completely ignoring Nott. He saw the rigid line of Draco’s neck and shoulders twitch when he noticed Nott prod a finger into Draco’s knee and lean over to tell him something. He smiled robotically, answering in short sentences. Harry automatically found himself leaning farther into Draco’s space, and finally decided he couldn’t let himself not do something about this sudden road block on his hopeful evening.

He nudged Draco, saying to the table, “Next round’s on me! Would you mind helping?” He then gave Blaise a look, who nodded slightly.

Draco nodded, standing up and walking with Harry towards the bar.

Harry leaned against the bar, talking with Tom and placing their order. Once done, Harry took a breath and looked at Draco. “You okay?”

He stared at Harry for a moment before saying, “I’m sorry.”

Harry startled. “For what?”

“I honestly tried to get rid of him, but he… he refused to let me pass by him,” he whispered. “I was hoping that tonight, we could… but I guess…” He sighed.

Harry saw red, but calmly asked again, “Are you okay?”

When Draco looked up into Harry’s eyes, he nodded. “Good. Let’s see if we can’t get rid of him together then, yeah?”

Draco gave him a confused look.

“Follow my lead, okay?”

Draco gave him another look, but Harry just winked and picked up one of the trays of drinks, walking back towards their friends.

He sat his tray down, before turning and taking the one Draco was holding and placed it on the table, too. They both walked around to their side of the booth, Harry sliding in before Draco. Harry reached across and picked up his glass of firewhiskey and another one that was a deep purple/blue colour.

Harry slid the glass of Chardonnay across the table to Blaise, who picked it up and clinked it against Harry’s glass, taking a drink. Harry watched Nott’s face out of the corner of his eye as he slid the other drink in front of Draco.

“I asked Tom to make you a Shark Bite, since I know you don’t drink wine anymore. It’s a muggle drink; I saw the recipe on the internet, and thought you’d like it,” he said to Draco, before putting his arm around his shoulder.

Draco smiled at him, before taking a sip. His grin grew as he tasted it. “That’s delicious! Thanks.” He then leant back against Harry’s side.

Harry smiled at the warmth of Draco’s body pressed against his. His quick thinking plan of making Nott jealous already seemed to be working as he glanced over at the man and saw the anger in his eyes.

“So, Blaise, how’s the new job?”

Blaise started talking, and Harry just let the sounds from around the table wash over him. He sipped his drink, laughing at the right times, but overall, just enjoying having Draco beside him.

Draco shifted in his seat a bit later, leaning forward a bit, and crossing his legs. He started talking to Ron, resolutely ignoring Nott when he tried to butt into the conversation, which thrilled Harry. After a while, Draco leant back into his side, and Harry instinctively started playing with his hair.

Down the table, it was Hermione and Pansy’s turn to get a round. “Draco, do you want another…what did you call it, Harry?”

“A Shark Bite. Tom knows what it is.”

“It’s really good. Want to try a sip?” He handed the last dredges over to Hermione, who took a sip and then handed it to Pansy.

“That is really good. Think I’m going to have to get one! Anyone else?”

Several of them raised their hands, as the two women walked off to the bar.

“You said you found the recipe on the Internet?” Draco asked, pulling back just enough that he could look Harry in the eyes, but that Harry’s hand stayed in his hair.

“Yeah. I was bored one afternoon, and so I was looking up random things, and came across a site that had recipes for drinks. Some of the names are hilarious!”

Seamus leaned forward and asked, “Like what?”

Harry smiled as he tried to remember some of the more ridiculous ones. “I remember there was one called Sex On The Beach. It sounded pretty good, too.”

“Hmmm, that does sound good,” Dean said with a chuckle. Seamus nudged him in the ribs, causing their friends to laugh.

“There was one called a Fuzzy Naval, and another called a Hairy Naval. Decided against those, for some reason.”

“Can’t imagine why,” Draco hummed.

“I also found one called an Orgasm, and a shot called a Wet Pussy.”

“Muggles are perverted!”

“Oh, like you’re not?” Harry turned in his seat the face Draco, arm still around his shoulders and hand drifting down to gently rub at his neck. He raised his eyebrows.

“What are you implying, Potter?”

“I think we all know what he’s implying, darling,” Pansy said as she and Hermione passed around drinks.

“Sod off.”

Everyone around them laughed, sans Nott, who seemed to be trying to burn a hole through Harry’s forehead with his eyes. Harry smirked to himself. He was going to piss Nott off enough that he’d leave before too much longer. His smirk widened as Blaise joined in on the action.

“Merlin, will you two just get a room, already? I’m so tired of watching the foreplay!”

Draco glanced at Harry before turning and looking at Blaise. “I’m sure neither of us have any idea what you’re talking about.” He smirked and leant back against Harry’s chest.

“Yes, what ever do you mean?” Harry asked in faux innocence. He too smiled as he glanced over at Nott.

Blaise groaned, waving a hand at them. “You even use the same phrases! Just get on with it, already!”

Everyone laughed, except for one.

The man at the end of the table, who had been nearly silent the entire time he had been sitting there, suddenly stood up, knocking his chair over. “Draco, may I speak to you?” Draco raised his brow. “In private.”

Harry felt Draco tense. He gently squeezed his shoulder, and felt the returning squeeze of his thigh, where Draco’s hand had once more come to rest. Draco gave a small nod, before waiting for Nott to move away from the table, and then smoothly stood and followed him over to the corner by the floo.

All eyes from their table were swinging back and forth between the two men standing and Harry, who had slid his wand out of his holster and was gripping it in his hand under the table, just waiting for something to happen.

It didn’t take long, either. Draco stood resolutely, arms crossed and feet spread apart, listening to Nott, whose face was turning redder and redder as he started yelling at Draco. Harry could hear part of the conversation, as Nott was getting louder. He heard Nott scream his name, followed by a string of profanity, and scooted toward the edge of the bench, preparing to step in between the two men.

He saw Draco respond, but couldn’t hear what was being said. He glanced over at Blaise who had his wand out, too, and was looking at Harry as if asking for permission. Harry minutely shook his head, eyes flicking back over to the corner, just as Nott’s arm came up as if the hit Draco. That was all it took.

Harry flicked his wrist, sending a jinx towards the man. What he wasn’t expecting was the see Nott go flying into the wall. His confusion ebbed as he saw Blaise jump up at the same time he did, Harry out of his seat and next to Draco, Blaise with his wand drawn and pointed at Nott before he had even hit the ground.

“Are you okay?” Harry glanced around the pub, noticing that all eyes were on them.

Draco nodded, looking down at Nott, who was trying to sit up. Blaise still had his wand pointed at him, but was squat beside him, talking quietly. He stood back up, taking a step back as Nott picked himself up, glared at the three men, and then stalked out.

The noise picked back up as everyone started their conversations again, but Harry, Blaise, and Draco still stood in the corner.

“Are you okay, mate?” Blaise asked, looking at Draco.

“What did you hit him with?” was all that he said.

Harry smiled as he saw the Slytherin Smirk™ appear on Blaise’s face.

“Oh, you know, just your everyday flipindo.”

“Why don’t I believe you?” Draco sounded so tired.

Harry wrapped an arm around him. “We’ll discuss this later, alright? Let’s just get you home, okay?”

Draco nodded, and Harry turned him to face the floo. He ran back to the table to retrieve their cloaks, saying a quick goodbye to everyone, and then ran back to where Draco still stood. He looked over at Blaise, who was still standing a couple of steps behind them, mouthing ‘Thank you’.

Blaise nodded and mouthed back, ‘Take care of him.’

Harry smiled softly and nodded. He stepped up to the fireplace and grabbed a handful of powder.

“I don’t want to be alone,” Draco whispered.

Harry gripped his shoulder tighter and tugged him over the hearth, calling out for Grimmauld Place. Stepping out into his lounge, he turned Draco in his arms and pulled him closer. “As if I would let you out of my sight after that. Give me a bit more credit,” Harry whispered in his ear.

Draco hugged Harry back, sniffling.

“Come on.”

Harry slowly brought Draco up to his room, gently pushing the blond to sit on the edge of the bed. He knelt in front of him, and finally got a good look at his face. Draco looked hollow. His face was sallow; his eyes were glassed over. Harry sighed before carefully untying Draco’s shoes, sliding them off his feet and setting them beside the chair that sat behind him. He removed his socks, tucking them in the shoes.

He then set to work on unbuttoning Draco’s crisp white shirt. Draco just sat there and let Harry move his appendages around as he removed his clothing. He had Draco stand just long enough to remove his slacks, and then manoeuvred him to lay up on the bed.

Harry quickly shucked his own clothing, until he too was in nothing but his pants, and then carefully slipped into the bed beside Draco. He lifted his hand to push a few hairs off of Draco’s face, before he gently placed his hand on Draco’s hip.

“Please, talk to me. Are you alright?”

“I’m sorry,” Draco whispered, voice cracking.

“You keep apologizing. Whatever for? You’ve done nothing wrong.”

He tugged Draco’s arm so that it slung across Harry’s waist, pulling him forward so that he was snug against Harry’s front.

“You’ve done absolutely nothing wrong,” he repeated. “Let’s just go to sleep, alright? We can talk in the morning.”

Draco nodded into Harry’s shoulder, curling his arm tighter around Harry’s torso. Harry felt a warm puff of air on his shoulder, and smiled.

This night had definitely not gone the way he thought it would have, but somehow, he’d still ended up in bed with Draco. I’ll take whatever I can get, he thought to himself as he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

~*~*~

Draco woke to sun blazing through the open curtains, which was a new experience for him. It took him a few moments of to realise where he was, and then he was suddenly wide awake and sitting up in the bed, looking for Harry.

The sheets beside him were cold though, so he got up, slipping on his shirt from the night before and going down the stairs. He’d been to Grimmauld before, of course, for group dinners and continuing the party after Tom kicked them out of the Leaky, but he’d never been here this early in the morning, and never on the upper floors. He didn’t even recall ever seeing the kitchen. He kind of loved it, to be honest.

Harry had done a lot of work making it liveable after the war, and it definitely showed. There were bright colours on the walls, plush furnishings in every room, and the hard wood floors shined.

He slowly made his way down the stairs, occasionally peeking into a room, when he heard a loud bang and a muffled curse word coming from what he imagined was the kitchen. He picked up his pace and smiled when he stepped into the room and saw Harry stood at the hob.

“Hey,” he quietly said, smile growing as Harry whipped around with a spatula in his hand.

“Morning,” Harry said with a wide smile. “I didn’t wake you, did I?”

“Not at all. What are you doing?”

“Well, I was going to bring you breakfast in bed, but I guess that is out the window,” he said with a wink, turning back to the pans on the fire.

“You don’t have to make me breakfast,” Draco said, quietly.

“Sure I do. Neither of us had more than a few chips to eat last night. I know I’m starving, so I can only imagine how you’re feeling.”

He no more than got the words out, and he could hear Draco’s grumbling stomach from across the room. “Like I said,” he chuckled.

Draco rolled his eyes and walked to stand beside Harry at the counter. “Is there anything I can do to help, then?”

“The only thing you need to do is to sit at the table and be your charming self.”

Draco again rolled his eyes, but smiled and turned toward the table.

“Wait,” Harry said, reaching out for Draco’s arm.

He turned back to look at Harry expectantly.

“Can I—May I kiss you?”

Draco gasped softly before quickly nodding his head, pulse picking up. Harry pulled him closer, releasing his arm to cup his cheek. “I’m glad you’re here,” Harry said before leaning in and pressing a kiss to his lips.

Draco opened his mouth slightly, allowing Harry entrance. They stood there for several long moments snogging, before Harry pulled back and gently rubbed his thumb against Draco’s bottom lip.

“I am, too,” Draco whispered against his finger, causing Harry to smile. “Very much.” He took a breath. “About last night…”

“We don’t need to worry about that right now.”

“I know, but I just want to thank you for being there for me,” he said softly. “For bringing me back here, for…all of it. I—”

Harry pulled him into a hug. “You’re welcome. For all of it.” He sighed, pulling back, but keeping his hands on Draco’s arms. “We all know what he’s like. I’m just sorry you had to deal with it.”

Draco shook his head, gripping Harry’s biceps.

Harry continued, “Besides, I know for a fact that come Monday, you’re going to have a Blaise shaped shadow following you around. So, there’s that to look forward to,” he chuckled.

Draco grinned as he pictured his best friend. He knew Harry was right, and honestly, he was kind of impressed that both Blaise and Pansy let him leave with such little fan-fair.

Harry leant back in and kissed him gently again, before nodding at him to go sit down. “Breakfast is almost ready.”

“Where’s your house elf? Why isn’t he cooking?” Draco inquired as he made himself comfortable.

“He’s around here somewhere. We came to an arrangement, about three months after I moved back in. If it’s just me, or me and a guest, I cook—unless I’m half dead from a mission or something. If I’m having a bigger get-together, then he does. Otherwise, he just keeps the house clean. He’s probably already been in the room, and is laundering the rest of your clothes.”

Draco hummed, watching Harry finish up the eggs. He let his eyes wander the expanse of Harry’s back as he stretched to open cabinets and retrieve the plates.

He smiled as Harry sat plates of eggs, bangers and mash, and some fruit on the table in front of him.

“I have pumpkin juice, milk, orange juice, coffee, and tea to drink.”

“Coffee and orange juice?”

“Coming right up.”

He turned back to spoon food onto their plates, and then went to slide Harry’s across the table to where he assumed he’d sit, but was pleasantly surprised moments later when Harry sat down their drinks, and pulled his plate back across the table as he sat down right next to Draco, thighs brushing.

“So, What shall we do today?”

Draco choked on his bite of eggs, peering over at Harry. “What?”

“I asked, what shall we do today?” He turned slightly on the bench to face Draco more directly. “Draco, I like you. I’m pretty sure you like me. We’ve been doing… ‘stuff’ for awhile now. We’ve officially slept together, now, even if it wasn’t exactly the way I had been hoping.”

Draco smiled at that.

“So, I’d like to take you on a date. An all-day date, if possible. Go to a museum, or go shopping at Diagon, or ride the London Eye, or something. And then, get dinner, hopefully come back here, and maybe I can cook you breakfast again tomorrow morning.”

He looked at Draco expectantly as he took in Harry’s speech.

“Do you mean that?”

“Every word. I want to spend more time with you. Really get to know you. For as long as you’ll allow me.”

A feeling Draco had never felt before rose up in him, starting at his toes, and going all the way up to his head. He couldn’t quite name it, but if he had to gather a guess, he imagined it was what pure, unadulterated happiness was supposed to feel like.

“Yes,” he breathed. “Yes. I want that, too. All of it.”

“Good,” Harry smiled. “Glad we’re on the same page. So, finish your breakfast, and decide where you want to go.”

He turned to fork up some food, but was caught unawares when Draco gripped his chin and pulled him into a deep kiss.

“Okay, now we can finish eating,” he said with a smirk, and turned back to his food, leaving Harry gobsmacked and just this side of horny.

“Fuck, the things you do to me, Malfoy,” Harry said with a shake of his head and a smile.

“Good or bad things?”

“Good. All good. So good.”

Draco smiled as he turned back to his food, ankle carefully wrapped around Harry’s. “Good.”


End file.
